The Case of the Displaced Detective: The Arrival is a SF mystery in which brilliant hyperspatial physicist, Dr. Skye Chadwick, discovers there are alternate realities, often populated by those we consider only literary characters. Her pet research, Project: Tesseract, hidden deep under Schriever AFB, finds Continuum 114, where Sherlock Holmes was to have died along with Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls. In a knee-jerk reaction, Skye rescues Holmes, who inadvertently flies through the wormhole to our universe, while his enemy plunges to his death. Unable to go back without causing devastating continuum collapse, Holmes must stay in our world and adapt. Meanwhile, the Schriever AFB Dept of Security discovers a spy ring working to dig out the details of – and possibly sabotage – Project: Tesseract. Can Chadwick help Holmes come up to speed in modern investigative techniques in time to stop the spies? Will Holmes be able to thrive in our modern world? Is Chadwick now Holmes’ new “Watson” – or more? And what happens next?

I love Holmes, so I couldn’t pass up the chance to read Stephanie Osborn’s The Case of the Displace Detective: The Arrival. I wasn’t disappointed. I’m not a big sci-fi reader, which is the twist explaining how Holmes ends up in modern-day America, but the sci-fi part was pretty light, more or less yep, we made this thing, discovered these continuums and sha-baam, now he’s here. The joy of the story for me was Osborn’s treatment of Holmes. He’s Victorian and his morality, behaviors, and expectations show that, but he’s brilliant and adapts quickly to his new surrounding. And he’s fun. He has a sense of humor and an understanding of human nature.

The mystery was not that impressive- and really not surprising. Who could have guessed that spies would want to learn about a machine that can let people see and interact with alternate realities? But we’ll hopefully learn more about the spy ring and what their true goal is in the second of the series, At Speed, which I have waiting on my Kindle to read.

I love the Colorado setting, too. I’ve never been there, but it’s on my to see list. I love the descriptions of the mountains and the Garden of the Gods and enjoyed Holmes reaction to seeing them for the first time. I’m not sure how I feel about where Skye and Homes relationship is headed. I like them both and she is brilliant and seems to understand him, but I’m not sure that I want to see a full-fledged romance. It’s not very Holmesian.

If you’re a Holmes fan, one who enjoys different takes on the familiar character, give this one a chance. I do think you need to know something about Holmes to enjoy it though, but I think most people know at least a bit.